Contemporary India finds itself at the intersection of the trajectories of a number of widely varying notions of truth, falsity, authenticity and illegitimacy. The variation in these trajectories—in their cultural origins and in their content—can make their crossings unpredictable and explosive and often unintelligible. This course will explore with students the claims and negotiations that are fundamental to some of the critical debates in Indian history and politics over the past two centuries. In particular it will aim to alert students to the possibility that underlying these contentious events, ideas and processes are contending claims to truth and authenticity.
The course will focus on a set of truth claims that constitute the interface of cultural interactions within India and between Indian cultures and the rest of the world: stereotypes, stories, histories, myths, corruption and claims to authenticity and ethnicity. Such a study of India, by facilitating the study of cultural interactions through the prism of different configurations of truth and falsity, rather than the prism of power, will also encourage students to think more broadly and deeply about the interplay between notions of truth.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Recognize and evaluate contentious notions of truth and falsity in Indian history and politics
- Assess the critical role played by the ephemeral notions of truth, authenticity, falsity and illegitimacy in critical political and historical debates in India
- Identify the genealogies of the different notions of truth and falsity
- Discuss with demonstrated empirical knowledge debates that employ different notions of truth and falsity
- Evaluate the centrality of truth claims in cultural negotiations in India
- Demonstrate the ability to competently critique studies of Indian history and politics by locating their truth claims
Indicative Assessment
Contribution to discussion |
| 10% | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
Three short projects (individual or group) 30% each. Each project must include: i) written report of 3000 words 15% ii) presentation 10% iii) Q & A 5%
| 3000 each | 90% | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
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Workload
2 hours lectures and 1 hour tutorial per week
Prescribed Texts
Readings will be available on Wattle
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $2958 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $4350 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2796 | 16 Feb 2015 | 06 Mar 2015 | 31 Mar 2015 | 29 May 2015 | In Person | N/A |
